Donaldson, a Minnesota-based company that provides filtration systems for the aerospace and defense industries, says its inlet barrier filter (IBF) business is booming, partly due to a recent increase in aircraft sales. IBFs help to protect helicopter engines from dust, sand, and debris.

According to Donaldson (Booth C3626), the recent growth in emergency medical services using helicopters overseas has led to increased sales of aircraft that use the company’s IBFs, including Bell and Leonardo helicopters. 

In particular, Bell has been placing an increasing number of orders for IBFs installed in Bell 407, 429, and 505 helicopters, while orders by the U.S. Navy for Leonardo’s AW119 have also increased. MD Helicopters also resumed ordering IBFs from Donaldson following a pre-pandemic halt in sales, the company said.

“The industry is strong, and Donaldson continues to support the production needs of all the major helicopter OEMs,” said Tom Newman, Donaldson’s director of business rotorcraft sales. “As a result, we increased our forecast numbers for total segment sales.”